Parshat Nasso - The Secret of the Blessings and the Inner Intent in Serving Hashem
In the Light of the King's Countenance: Serving Hashem Through Abundance and Lack
People who live in this world think that the world was created so that we can eat, drink, dress, and get settled. We enjoy this and we enjoy that, and there are things we need: we need a house, we need parnassah (livelihood), and then children, that I should have successful children who succeed in their studies, who will be in good chadarim (Torah schools), daughters who will be in good institutions, and that we should marry them off properly.
In short, even if everyone thinks that Hashem will also have nachas ruach (spiritual satisfaction) from all of this, still, this concept of bringing satisfaction to Hashem—which is actually written before every mitzvah: "For the sake of the unification of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and His Shechinah (Divine Presence)"—is something very distant from people, and this is also a lack of true awareness. We need to know that, in truth, everything must be for the honor of Hashem, may He be blessed.
A person's best state is specifically when he is in the most difficult situations. Because when things are going well for him, flowing smoothly, and everything is good, then he is actually in a very difficult situation. Why? Because when everything is going well for him, he does not remember Hashem. Simply put, he forgets.
"You will eat and be satisfied... and your heart will become haughty and you will forget Hashem your God."
Hashem says, "I am afraid to let you eat a lot; I am afraid that you will have such a large salary and you will get settled and everything will be excellent, because then you will never pray, since everything is going your way." Therefore, when everything is going well for a person, he needs to be very, very afraid.
There are indeed righteous people for whom everything goes well materially, yet they do not forget Hashem, because they cannot tolerate materialism. They are disgusted by physicality. They derive no satisfaction from it; their hearts feel dry. They have everything, but they feel like they have nothing. They have it all: a husband, a wife, a beautiful home, a good salary, successful children, everything is succeeding for them and everything is wonderful—yet they feel bad. This is because the soul wants something more, it wants something else entirely.
But usually, this does not happen; human nature is "Jeshurun grew fat and kicked." He has everything, so it is not good. When a person lacks something, then he cries, he says: "Oy vey, give me what I am missing." And he does not know that Hashem is saying: "Oh, I was actually waiting for this moment, for this moment when you would feel that you are lacking and then you would cry out to Hashem."
The Secret of the Princes' Offerings: Inner and Original Intent
"Take a census of the sons of Gershon as well" (Numbers 4:22)
Parshat Nasso, which is usually read on the Shabbat following the holiday of Shavuot, is the longest of the 54 Torah portions. It contains 176 verses, which is eight times the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet (22 x 8 = 176). This length is primarily due to the inclusion of twelve sections, which repeat the exact same linguistic phrasing, detailing the gifts brought by the princes of the tribes for the dedication of the Altar in the desert.
The question arises: Why does the Torah repeat and detail the specific gifts brought to the Tabernacle for each and every one of the twelve princes? After all, we know that there are no superfluous words in the Torah, and everything is weighed and measured with precise exactness. If so, why didn't the Torah write here in a brief manner: "On the second day, Nethanel the son of Zuar, prince of Issachar, offered according to the law of the offering brought by Nachshon the son of Amminadab"? And similarly, the Torah could have written this regarding the third day, and for all the other days on which they volunteered for the dedication of the Altar.
Rather, our Sages tell us, the Torah comes to teach us that none of the princes imitated the action of his friend who preceded him in bringing his donation. And even though it seemingly appears to be the exact same order of gifts brought by the twelve princes of the tribes—each one of them brought his offering with his own inner sincerity, and with a personal, original spiritual awakening.
The Priestly Blessing: An Abundance of Loving-Kindness and Peace
"May Hashem bless you and protect you. May Hashem make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May Hashem lift up His face toward you and grant you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26)
"May He bless you" - This refers to the aspect of parnassah (livelihood) and holy wealth, where we will not need to engage in any business or worldly effort, but rather the money and livelihood will be drawn down to us solely through His loving-kindness, may He be blessed, in the aspect of "The blessing of Hashem brings wealth" (Proverbs 10:22).
And this is "and protect you" - From the harmful forces which are the aspect of fallen, misplaced fears, that one should be protected from them, and instead merit holy awe, which is the attribute of "guarding" (Shamor). Because through holy awe, one merits loving-kindness (Likutey Moharan, Torah 4), and through this, one merits parnassah (livelihood) without toil.
And this is "May Hashem make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you" - This is the aspect of the illumination of the Countenance, the illumination of Divine Will. And this is "May Hashem lift up His face toward you" - This is the aspect of charity (Tzedakah), for through this comes the primary lifting of the Countenance, in the aspect of "I, in righteousness (Tzedek), will behold Your face" (Psalms 17:15).
And this is "and grant you peace" - This is the aspect of "one who increases charity, increases peace." Because the main tikkun (rectification) is through charity, through which one merits Divine Will, through which one merits holy awe which is the vessel to receive loving-kindness, through which one merits the blessing of Hashem in His loving-kindness, and one does not need to engage in any worldly business.
All of this is included in the Priestly Blessing, because specifically the Kohanim (Priests) must bestow this blessing, since they represent the aspect of loving-kindness, the aspect of "The world is built on loving-kindness" (Psalms 89:3), the aspect of "And you shall be called the priests of Hashem" (Isaiah 61:6).
The Power of the Priestly Blessing to Awaken Teshuvah (Repentance)
"Speak to Aharon and to his sons, saying: So shall you bless the children of Israel..." (Numbers 6:23)
In the year 5693 (1933), Rabbi Yitzchak Kossovsky was appointed as the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in Johannesburg, South Africa. After some time, it became clear to the Rav that many Jews in the community were publicly desecrating the Shabbos, eating forbidden foods, and stumbling in other Torah prohibitions. Several of them, who were Kohanim (priests), would come to the synagogue on Shabbos and holidays, and they would ascend the platform to bless the congregants with the "Priestly Blessing" (Birchas Kohanim), as commanded by the Torah.
Rabbi Kossovsky turned to his brother-in-law, Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, with a question: How should he conduct himself regarding those who publicly desecrate the Shabbos, yet come to the synagogue and ascend the platform with the rest of the Kohanim? Is it proper to prevent them from blessing the congregation? After all, the halachic authorities have established that an apostate who publicly desecrates the Shabbos is like an apostate to idol worship, and he may not raise his hands to bless the people with the Kohanim. Or perhaps it is proper to be lenient here, because these transgressors do so out of ignorance regarding the severity of the prohibition, and they have the status of "captured infants" (tinokos shenishbu - Jews raised without Torah knowledge)?
Rabbi Chaim Ozer replied to his brother-in-law and told him: According to the strict letter of the law, it is certain that Kohanim who publicly desecrate the Shabbos are not fit to ascend the platform and bless the congregation. However, despite this, I rule leniently not to push them away. For many of them are liable to forget that they are Kohanim, and Heaven forbid, they might come to marry women who are forbidden to the priesthood, and even defile themselves by coming into contact with the dead.
Furthermore, Rabbi Chaim said to his brother-in-law, Rabbi Kossovsky: "When the Kohanim ascend the platform and bless the people with the 'Priestly Blessing,' the awareness that they are from the seed of Aharon HaKohen penetrates their hearts, and it is possible that this awareness will bring them to complete teshuvah (repentance) in the future."
True Service of Hashem Versus External Afflictions
"And this is the law of the Nazirite..." (Numbers 6:13)
A certain chassid, whose wisdom was smaller than his fear of Heaven, once boasted to the tzaddik Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin that he was afflicting himself with extremely harsh mortifications in order to merit the revelation of Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet). When he saw that the tzaddik did not respond to his words, the chassid began to describe with great excitement the quota of afflictions he had taken upon himself: No beverage enters his mouth, except for water! Nails are embedded in his shoes, piercing the soles of his feet; and during the winter—he continued and said—I perform "gilgul sheleg" (rolling naked in the snow to afflict the body) every single day, and every morning I absorb forty lashes on my back.
The tzaddik Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin smiled, and motioned for the chassid to approach the window of the room. The tzaddik then pointed his finger toward the courtyard, where a carriage harnessed to a large horse stood, and said to him:
"Look, this animal standing there in the courtyard also tastes no beverage other than water, and in its 'shoes' (hooves) nails are embedded, and it suffers from 'rolling in the snow' in the winter, and absorbs more than forty lashes on its back every day—and yet, it has not changed one iota: it was a horse, and it remains a horse..."